Donald Trump's Superficial Patriotism At The Twilight Of U.S. Empire

Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.

– Juvenal

Despite the title, I don’t want this post to be all about Donald Trump. The truth of the matter is all politicians love superficial patriotism. It’s why they all claim to care deeply about the troops, yet allow veterans to wait weeks or months to see a doctor after sending them to fight pointless imperial overseas wars based on fabrications. All these disingenuous politicians are total frauds, but they tend sell the same destructive policies in different ways. As such, it’s important to understand how they manipulate and divide us.

First and foremost, standing for the National Anthem, saluting the flag or cheering a military parade is not “supporting the troops.” If you think such trivial and superficial acts represent anything beyond lazy surface level virtue signaling you’re a huge part of the problem. Your thoughtlessness and fake patriotism is exactly why our young kids are being sent off to die and murder other young kids halfway across the world to pad the coffers of plutocrats and the egos of empire obsessed sociopaths in D.C. Not only are such acts not patriotism, your phony gestures help grease the wheels of global death and destruction.

Having a strong military for national defense is a necessary thing, but the purpose of such a force should always and in all circumstances be defense. A major problem arises when you have a global empire coupled with the strongest military on earth. Such a situation results in an overwhelming temptation to use this power for offensive aggression, and that’s exactly what our so-called “elites” have used the U.S. military for throughout the 21st century. The attacks of September 11, 2001 merely provided an excuse for the most twisted people in Washington D.C. to live out their most deranged power fantasies. George W. Bush got the ball rolling, Barack Obama stuck to the script, albeit with a more slick sales pitch, and Donald Trump’s set to take us to the inevitable end, which is imperial collapse.

In many ways, Donald Trump is the ideal President to usher in the end of U.S. empire. While the more gullible slice of his support base credulously believed he’d “Make America Great Again,” his more jaded and realistic voters merely hoped he’d just burn the whole thing down, metaphorically speaking. He needed a combination of these two groups to win, so it’s very important to not think of his voters as a monolithic entity. Many of them don’t even like Trump, they just wanted to throw a grenade into this corrupt system and knew he was the best of the two candidates to do it. In many ways, they were correct.

They weren’t correct because Trump meant anything he said on the campaign trail. He clearly didn’t. It’s obvious Trump loves Wall Street, after all, the first thing he did was surround himself with former Goldman Sachs partners. On foreign policy, he’s embraced some of the most barbaric and despotic regimes on earth, such as Saudi Arabia, with the enthusiasm of a little boy with a grade school crush, and appears disturbingly eager to start a war with Iran. That said, Trump’s Presidency’s may still lead to the effect desired by many of his more cynical voters.

For example, things really are coming apart at the seams, largely due to the transparently hysterical and demented reaction of neocons and neoliberals to his election. This faux “resistance” movement is such an obvious superficial sham it’s caused everyone with a somewhat functioning brain to recognize that most of the dominant aspects of this culture are shams. This realization is becoming harder and harder to deny, especially for younger generations. Which brings me to the next issue. Trump’s military parade.

By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard about Trump’s desire for a grand military parade. This longing was apparently inspired by a trip to that paragon of global military might, France, where he witnessed such a dazzling performance it committed him to bring such a spectacle back home.

“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” said a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the planning discussions are supposed to remain confidential. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.”

The inspiration for Trump’s push is last year’s Bastille Day celebration in Paris, which the president attended as a guest of French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump was awestruck by the tableau of uniformed French troops marching down Avenue des Champs-Elysees with military tanks, armored vehicles, gun trucks and carriers — complete with fighter jets flying over the Arc de Triomphe and painting the sky with streaks of blue, white and red smoke for the colors of the French flag.

Aboard Air Force One en route home from Paris in July, aides said Trump told them that he was dazzled by the French display and that he wanted one at home.

It was still on his mind two months later when he met with Macron on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“It was one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen,” Trump told reporters. “It was two hours on the button, and it was military might, and I think a tremendous thing for France and for the spirit of France.”

Seated next to Macron, Trump added: “We’re going to have to try to top it.”

If you think this sounds like the thought process of a two-year old, you’re right, but there’s more to it. For all his flaws, Trump is actually a very talented manipulator and salesman. This is why I was one of the first people to say we needed to take Trump seriously back in 2015 when most others were mocking him. He understands the ancient concept of “bread and circuses” as well as anyone, and he knows there’s no bigger slobbering circus than a big military parade.

Superficial patriotism is the most attractive form of patriotism for any politician. It encourages spectacle without substance. Bluster without tangible success. Chest-thumping without sacrifice. Any big military parade in the U.S. will be a definitive sign of desperate insecurity and evidence that the American empire is expiring.

Hate to break it to you, but the rest of the world will see a U.S. military parade and immediately think, oh, the U.S. is even weaker than we thought. Meanwhile, the same social media Trump celebrities we already knew had fascist tendencies will enthusiastically cheer such a spectacle and attempt to divide the public over it. Please don’t fall for such nonsense.

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Hands down no question who is the better leader. If left wingers. MSM. Hollaywood and the Dems would work with him to pull America forward, and out of the disaster Obama and Bush left us in, we'd all be much better off.

For a thousand years, Romans were invincible because they were patriots. The Rome was their religion.

Trump is a low-life fraud. This is all to say.

Let us be honest: the last elections were bogus then the ruling oligarchy preselected presidential candidates with the lowest integrity. Trump got "the green light" since he was/is easily manageable. Hillary has some balls and independence, consequently, it was decided to "retire" her.

Of course he was selected. No one gets there without being approved by the deep state. No one. If you don't understand this by now, then you are just a sad little muppet doing a cute little dance because all of you're strings are being pulled

Not nearly as sad as you. You live in a world of futility and nothing to believe in. We all understand that our choices are limited. Unless you are king of the world, they always will be (and even then).

It may be wishful thinking but I am not alone in the belief and hope that the election of trump is our best chance at avoiding a complete tyranny of government. If you can't allow yourself to see that, it is you that are blinded by complete pessimism.

he's a tool of those who run it all in the west...including the "deep state"...the fake conflict is there to get you to blindly support him against the "deep state"...if he really were the next washington, jefferson, franklin...would he really give away so much american capital in support of sociopathic countries against the interest of the american PEOPLE?

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.

Oldwood: And after everything we saw, after all the deep state corruption we now KNOW exists to deny Trump, you still think Trump was selected?

Ya know, if you take the RED/BLUE map of Bush/Gore and Trump/Clinton, put them side to side, they are almost IDENTICAL.

Not that it will mean anything to stupids. But then, most people are too stupid to understand how the Shadow Government works. The Shadow Government knows that after 8 years of Obama, a Clinton win would have been disastrous. Ping-Pong politics. Dems. Reps. Dems. Reps. Dems. Reps. And... remember where we were? Here we are. Imagine where we will be?

Anyhow. You idiots keep talking about the Deep State. You really think the faces you see are the Deep State? The faces they are throwing at you are just the Swamp Scum being skimmed off the top of the Swamp. Trump hasn't even begun to drain the Swamp and filter out the creatures swimming in the Swamp. The DEEP STATE... you have to DREDGE THE SWAMP MUCK... and... IF Trump gets that far, you WILL know it.

You ain't EVER getting any semblance of freedom back that your grandfathers and their fathers enjoyed... EVER.

Trump isn't your savior. Trump is your judgement. And most of you are too stupid to know why.

I don't think you could be more wrong. Rome was the first civilized state to effective use science in a totally pragmatic way. For example, concrete. At first, farmers would leave their fields to take up the sword in defense of Rome. Later, they could buy their way out of such service. Patriotism is not the key to success, but intelligence is.

Political expediency seems to only be a sin when a conservative does it.

It might be worth noting that Trump's failure to implement his campaign promises is largely due to the fact that he resists ruling as an autocrat, relying on CONGRESS to fulfill IT'S constitutional mandate, different from Obama relying upon his phone and pen, largely in defiance of his public campaign promises. Remember his promise of centrism and then professing "elections have consequences" or move to the back of the bus? Remember how marriage is one man and one woman, how Obamacare will let you keep your plan and doctor? It's fucking endless, yet this prick just can't get past Trump.

Trump, the guy who travels around the nation rallying people to PEACEFUL gatherings rather than idiot AntiFa destroyers. Yes, sure, Trump IS horrible given he is shining an absolutely intense light on cockroaches like Krieger.

I laugh at the critics who say Trump's crass and low-rent, which he's not, while neglecting to point out how Clinton was the king of sleeze and Chinese house boy all in one and how Obama entertained himself in that limo with Larry Sinclair and kept Reggie on speed dial. And how LBJ had novel ways of dealing with staff.

There is lots of shit to focus on, but for me, our real corrosive threat is political correctness....the way that progressives have forced their agendas down our throats without any legislation. We even see SCOTUS making decisions based upon it rather than our constitution or original intent. Everything in our world has been formed by this, with media and schools used to impose it.

Our defense is as simple as saying NO. Admittedly it is a tough and painful prospect at this late date, our unwillingness to confront this is as deadly as it has ever been throughout history.

We see how we were denigrated as "deplorables" in the last election. People simply standing for age old values that had suddenly and seemingly magically changed overnight.

We saw people like Hillary and Obama seemingly flipping from one man, one women to castigating anyone who denied this as a homophobic hater deserving of public censure.

The slippery slope has become steep indeed, standing up straight become a very difficult task.

Hillary or Donald - what a scam of a choice! Vote for one of 2 frauds. Vote for one of 2 openly hypocritical appearance-only lacking of substance shills for the swamp. What have we fallen to as a nation? It is so hard to believe that this country was founded by great men and women willing to sacrifice all to achieve what they did. Compared to the scum that infest our government today, even with all their flaws and faults, they have to be rolling over in their graves. All Trump does, or Hillary would've done, is to be superficial. They know no other way to be.

I'm so sorry you have been denied your beloved perfection....you know, the world that only YOU could love. Human arrogance says that your notion of perfection is enjoyed by so many more and only a fool can't see it, when in reality it is EXACTLY that mindset we struggle against in those we disagree.

Get over it.

It is PEOPLE that we all struggle to live with, and ultimately, when afforded enough power, seek to eliminate to create our perfection.

True for the most part but the worship of minorities and foreigners and studied blindness toward Muslims, open borders, fiscal profligacy, the homosexual agenda, hostility to Constitution, and military adventure really are more than imperfection.

And you are obviously one of those who can't be fooled at all, right? Super wise?

You just can't accept reality, can you?

The difference between you and I is that I accepted that Obama was my president, and also accepted that his goal was to subjugate me and to do exactly OPPOSITE of Trump to make SURE America was NEVER great again.

The " Call of Duty"??? Did you read the Pentagon Papers? FFS! I bet Donald did...as I recall, in the 60's, it was every man for himself, and much of the seeds for the "Post Constitutional era" were sown.

Trust the troglodyte-type of the 'walt-disney right' to take a dump in defense of

Drumpf - in the classic turd in a teacup manner! Mikeys' been all over the map lately in the quality of his musings, but got this one just right... which is prolly what gets under the hides of the inarticulate style of crash test drummy who couldn't create a rebuttal if their zombie-life depended pon it.

Torn between their 'death to america' angst -and their 'hoorah for hezboolah' pranks, these serial sad sacks are the true children of the man who famously twittered -

12:25am February 25th 2015 - ...

If the Dow Joans[sic] ever falls more than a thousand points in a single day, the sitting president should be 'loaded' into a very big cannon and SHOT into the sun at TREMENDOUS SPEED! No excuses!

and as such... will ignore the words of their chief when wise[see above]... and extol them when stupid!

If Donald J Cannon(fodder) and Elon Musk would only team up to make america great agin... for at least one final moment..

all of these tykes and their mental midget leader could have their wish... and in one final 'mother of all victory parades' watch Don fulfill one of his own promises at last!

Whilst putting together the next chapter in the book project, I came across a delightful study called "the Sumerian Swindle" lately. It's outline of the course of events in ol Mess o pot a mia ... some 6000 odd year BP... sounds soooo very familiar

For the awilum [the Haves], this loan-and-interest became an asset that could be passed along to his sons. And the original loan that had cost them nothing and which brought them more wealth for free in interest payments, could also be passed from one generation to the next as grain- and silver-lending families bequeathed to their descendants the fruits of the Sumerian Swindle as ongoing accounts.

Eventually, wealthy families and wealthy individuals arose who, through greed and acquisitive barter, were able to gain a large share of the total wealth of the community. Over many generations, those
families became owners of large properties and the employers of many laborers to work those properties.

Farms, silver, grain, land and slaves, all became theirs. And they got it all for free . Lending- at- interest became commonly accepted as an ordinary part of the Pre-Literate Mesopotamian society simply because it "has always been here". The rich insisted on their "rights of ownership" and the poor accepted their poverty since it was brought upon them so gradually by the subtlety of the swindle that they didn't notice the decline of their well-being.

Now... if that don't describe a certain place not at all distant from y'all right this minute... to a tee... then I'll jus get into that cannon with Donnie meself, and we'll both blow this here poopsicle stand!

Let's just completely ignore the competitive dog eat dog world that has ALWAYS existed and continue our fruitless pursuit of egalitarian "justice" that has NEVER existed in this world except in the tiniest and short lived examples, yet is ALWAYS the excuse to rally oppressive forces to impose "their" vision of Justice upon the world.

It is always the LOSERS who seek the power of GOVERNMENT to achieve the victories denied. Marxism only exists through the POWER of government, and we find self proclaimed conservatives seeking that power just as any progressive. It is the true corruption we struggle against, the necessity of embracing that which we claim to despise in order to "win".

We find our values imposed, many completely delusional. How many pacifist societies have been wiped from the earth while embracing values completely conjured from a belief system based upon nothing but hope and theory.

What we create is a social system designed to self destruct, imposing impossible ideals that can only be achieved through suicide or mass murder.

The only sustainable society is one that accepts reality. Preaching that humans can fly by only the strength of their beliefs does NOT make us better people, it leads us to either suicide in trying or depression of the realization that we are failures in that regardless of how hard we believe or flap our arms against the air we cannot fly.

Happiness and contentment come from realistic expectations. The angry, violent and destructive people in this world are those who fail to accept reality and take their disillusionment out on everyone else.

I didn’t (don’t) feel the need to rebut a peice of garbage such as this one;if I wanted to hear demented ravings of this sort,I can turn on CNN/ABC/CBS/NBC 24/7 for all Marxist propaganda all the time,and ever so slightly better quality and coherence in bellowing it if I so chose .A year into his presidency and all you lttle leftist weenies can do is-cry like little girls.Want me to call a wambulance,wittle girl?Ask mommy for another juice box?